


autumnal

by spideywhiteys



Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [26]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Sakura, Gen, he would like to leave now, sakura is BABY!!!, she gets lost while apple picking, zabuza is a reluctant adult
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29012367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys
Summary: Sakura cries into the curve of her arm, snot dampening the fabric over her elbow. She’s quiet, because she’s a quiet girl. A responsible girl, like her parents always call her. It wouldn’t do to bother others with the sounds of her crying. She’s learned that people get uncomfortable when you cry, or they make fun of you.Sakura does not want to be a bother, nor does she want to be made fun of.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Momochi Zabuza
Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086938
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	autumnal

**Author's Note:**

> Day 26: Apple Picking AU / Sakura + Zabuza

Sakura cries into the curve of her arm, snot dampening the fabric over her elbow. She’s quiet, because she’s a quiet girl. A  _ responsible  _ girl, like her parents always call her. It wouldn’t do to bother others with the sounds of her crying. She’s learned that people get uncomfortable when you cry, or they make fun of you.

Sakura does not want to be a bother, nor does she want to be made fun of. 

So she sits under the shade of an apple tree, feeling the roughness of the bark beneath her jacket. She exhales a cloud and the tip of her nose burns red with the chill of a sunny autumn day. Bruised apples coat the ground, glossy reds and greens, resting exactly where they’ve fallen from the branches above. 

She’d been so excited earlier, even waking up an hour before she usually does to pull her parents out of bed. Apple picking is a seasonal event, after all — once you miss it, you miss it, and Sakura is still not old enough to remember the last time, so this still feels new to her. 

(A childhood nostalgia she will feel once she’s older and less likely to spend time with her parents.)

Driving past forests of gold, crimson and browning oranges — a sunset in leaf form, among the treetops rather than behind it, sinking into the horizon — had been the highlight, up until they arrived. That childish excitement carried on all the way up to about ten minutes ago, when she’d gotten lost. There’d been an apple sitting in a tree another row over, and she’d wandered away without thinking — which isn’t like her at all, honestly, she’s a responsible girl after all! This apple was sooo huge and sooo red and shiny that she just couldn’t help herself. All that excitement made thinking hard. The next thing she knew, she was half-way up the small tree with her hands around a big, beautiful apple.

That same apple is lying half-smushed on the ground after she’d toppled out of the tree trying to get down. It doesn’t hurt so much anymore, though her knees feel a bit bruised and her wrists still sting from landing a bit like a cat. 

If only she hadn’t wandered away from her mom and dad.

Sakura sniffs loudly, snot running down her chin. Her cheeks are flushed with both her tears and the chill, and she lost one of her gloves in the branches. It swings there tauntingly, just out of her reach if she were to stand. All she’d wanted was an apple. 

This is why she always follows the rules, because when she doesn’t bad things happen. It’s always  _ her _ that gets in trouble, never her friends. Because Sakura is a  _ responsible _ girl and she’s supposed to be able to persuade other kids to do the right thing.

Sakura thinks that’s very unfair, because no one has ever persuaded Naruto to do something else after he’s already made up his mind, she could never talk back to Sasuke, and Ino wouldn’t listen to her to begin with!

“Kid.”

Sakura shrieks.

A man crouches just a few feet away, looking very awkward and very much like he’d rather be anywhere else. His skin is tan, his eyes narrow and dark. His hair is pitch black, the way that Sasuke’s brother’s is, but short and spiky and a little bit messy, like he hadn’t bothered to brush it this morning. Sakura’s mother would never let her out of the house with messy hair!

He purses his lips, features very mean-looking even though he isn’t frowning or acting angry. Sakura thinks he might just have  _ one of those faces _ as Ino would say. People in dramas always go for the bad boy look, so maybe he’s like that. He’s even wearing all black, just a puffy coat and no gloves or hat — her mom says people like that just like to act tough.

“What are you doin’ here? Are you lost?”

Sakura sniffs again, very wetly. “Y-Yeah, I can’t find my mom ‘n dad.” She tips her head back with a wail, “AND I FELL!”

The man winces, “Well maybe if you started screamin’ like that they’d find you. Jesus, pinky, you got a set of lungs on you.”

“I can’t scream,” Sakura shakes her head sadly. “That would be disruptful.”

The man gets a funny look on his face. “Yeah, uh, you ever heard of something called  _ context? _ Or maybe,  _ saving it for the right time?” _

“I have!”

“Well this is one of those times.” He deadpans, and his eyes kind of look the way a dead fish does. Flat and shiny. His teeth are sharper than hers.

“Are you a vampire?”

“What? No. What the hell are you going on about?”

She points to his mouth. “You have shark teeth! Are you a vampire?”

“I said no,” he grumbles in disbelief. “That’s just how they are. You get your hair from a bottle or what?”

“What?” She furrows her brow. “Why would a bottle give me hair?”

The man rolls his eyes. “Nevermind. Do you want to find your parents or what?”

“Yeah!”

“Then get out from under the tree.”

Sakura begins to move, before pausing, her jade eyes narrowed. “My mom and dad said not to go with strangers.”

“Well you’ve been talking to one for like, five minutes, so you’ve already failed that rule.”

Sakura gasps, “You’re right!” How could she forget! This was inexcusable. “What’s your name?”

He squints at her. “...Zabuza.

She wrinkles her nose right back. “That’s a funny name.”

“Hey—”

“But now we’re not strangers!” She exclaims, shuffling out from under the tree. She pats his knee very delicately. “I’m Sakura.”

Zabuza furrows his brow, his face twisting like he can’t decide on what emotion to portray. “That’s original.”

“Thank you!”

He sighs, standing up from his crouch. “You know, you should be a little more cautious with strangers. Not all of them are upstanding guys like me. Some of ‘em would snatch you away, you little brat.”

Sakura puts her hands on her hips. She likes to think she’s a pretty good judge of character. Her mom said so, after all. “Are you gonna snatch me up?”

He looks at her.

She looks back.

“No,” he sighs, gazing heavenward. “As if. Now hurry up and start calling for your parents. And in a way that won’t get me arrested.”

Sakura grabs his hand. “Okay. But can you get my other glove first? It’s still in the tree.”

Zabuza stares down at her, then at their clasped hands. “I should have just kept walking.”

“Mr. Zabuza, that’s not very nice.”

“Fine, fine, I’m grabbing the glove—”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow / Support me on [Tumblr](https://spideyfoof.tumblr.com/) and let me know if you'd like to see more of this AU!


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